1.5& 2-mile Tracks Dominate NASCAR

Tracks such as Kansas flood the NASCAR schedule, especially the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship.

The term cookie cutter has often been used when referring to speedways 1.5 or 2-miles in length. Tracks such as the forthcoming Kansas Speedway are notorious for long green flag runs, the spreading out of the field, and very little side by side action.

Many fans will agree that these type of cookie cutter tracks generally produce humdrum, sleep inducing races. Still, these racetracks dominate the NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule and put the most money into NASCAR's bank account.

In the mid to late1990's, 1.5 and 2-mile speedways began popping up all over the U.S. in big market cities. In 1997, the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway located in Fort Worth, TX, and the 2-mile California Speedway located in Fontana, Cal. (outside of Los Angeles) were added to the NASCAR schedule. That same year, the .626-mile uphill downhill track located in North Wilkesboro, NC was expunged from the schedule.

In 1998, the 1.5-mile oval located in Las Vegas, NV was integrated in to NASCAR's agenda. A year later, the flat 1.5-mile oval located in Homestead-Miami became NASCAR's newest attraction.

The invasion of cookie cutter venues didn't end there. In 2001, Joliet, IL boasted the Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas City brought NASCAR to the heartland when the Kansas Speedway was added to the schedule.

So in a span of five years, six new facilities, all 1.5 or 2-miles in length became apart of the NASCAR schedule.

To the drivers, Texas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway may drive totally different from each other, but to the fan watching the race from their living room, those two tracks incredibly similar. Same goes for Chicagoland and Kansas, California and Michigan, etc.

From my encounters wiht NASCAR fans, they do not mind watching a race at one of these cookie cutter venues every once in a while, but they would much rather prefer a race at the egg-shaped 1.366 mile oval of Darlington, or the .0533 high banked bull-ring in Bristol, TN. The .75-mile D-shaped oval in Richmond gives NASCAR a unique short track which has the feel of a speedway.

But races held at Texas, Las Vegas, and Kansas continue to sell out, and until those seats become regularly vacant, fans will continue to spend a portion of the NASCAR Nextel Cup seasons dozing off in front of the TV.

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tracks under 1-mile in length- Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond- 6 races

tracks 1-mile to 1.499- Dover, Phoenix, New Hampshire, Darlington- 7 races

tracks either 1.5-miles or 2-miles in length - Atlanta, Lowe's, Texas, Chicagoland, Kansas, Homestead, Las Vegas, Michigan, California - 14 races

2.5 mile non-restrictor plate tracks- Indianapolis, Pocono- 3 races

SuperSpeedways- Talladega, Daytona - 4 races

road courses- Infineon, Watkins Glen- 2 races

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